


The Guardian of the Font

by Linorien



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), James Bond (Movies), James Bond - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, minor appearances from M branch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-15
Updated: 2016-10-15
Packaged: 2018-08-22 13:36:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8287594
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linorien/pseuds/Linorien
Summary: In which Q is called upon to break the curse upon a village fountain and the warlock bemoans the lack of scientific knowledge in the world.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Alex for giving this a look over before I posted.

“Your majesty, we appeal humbly to you to send someone to console our guardian of the font.” The village chief bowed low in front of the Queen. 

“What manner of creature is this?” M inquired. The last king, her brother had driven most magic out of the realm, certainly out of the capital. She was doing her best to welcome magic back, but there was so much she did not know.

The man looked up. “Our guardian of the font, your highness. She guards the fountain in the village that we draw our water from. She lives in the waters and blesses us with good health.” He bowed again. 

“What is the trouble now?”

“Something is wrong with the water. It is tainted. We even tried digging a new well, but that was also tainted. Our guardian has taken to spending all day weeping and refuses to speak with any of us. She says none of us would understand.”

“I believe I understand and have just the right person. Tanner?” The spymaster stepped forward. “Go with Tanner and tell him where your village is. He knows the man for the job.”

 

***

 

Not so far away, in a tower in the woods, sat a porcupine. He was currently curled up in the sunlight on the floor, sighing deeply. But his slumber would not last long. An alarm sounded from the desk. The creature jumped in surprise and scurried over to the workspace, only remembering once he was there to untransfigure himself back to his human form. He pulled up the message on his communicator. It was another message from Tanner, giving him directions to a small village that had a problem with the water and the guardian of the water, or something of the sort. He had never heard of a guardian of the font. He needed to do some research first then. 

He ran his fingers through his hair as he stood in the doorway to his library. Or, he tried to. It was a lot spikier than normal. And sharp. “Codsarn it,’ he cursed. He hadn’t completely transformed back. He spoke the restoration incantation aloud this time and checked his reflection in the mirror. This time he couldn’t see anything animalian about himself anymore. 

 

Within only a few hours, Bond was circling above the village, looking for a place for them to land. Not seeing any within easy walking distance, Bond swooped low for Q to leap off this back and use magic to control his fall. He landed just outside of the village and quickly walked to where he had saw that the fountain was. Sure enough, he saw the guardian sitting on the low brick wall around the spring, weeping into her hands. 

“Good day, milady,” Q greeted. She looked up at him then put her face back in her hands. 

“Go away. I told them I don’t want to talk to any of you.”

“I’ve come to fix the waters, mistress.”

“You can’t, no one can. It’s been cursed.” She burst into more tears at this proclamation. Not knowing what else to do, Q put a hand on her shoulder to offer some form of comfort. She gasped. Q drew his hand back, fearful that he had hurt her in some way. “Wait,’ she said and grabbed his hand with her own. She studied it, then studied him. “You have magic.”

“I do. How can you tell?”

“Your magic is not mortal magic, yet you are human.” She sounded unsure of that.

“Half fae, my mother,” Q admitted. 

“Who is she?”

“I do not know,” he said softly. It had plagued him more in his childhood, but he hardly ever thought of his birth-mother anymore. 

She studied him further before releasing his hand. “Maybe you can fix my waters.”

Q set down his pack and began unloading his chemistry set. “Can you tell me what, specifically, is wrong and when you first noticed this?”

She told him a story of the week of nonstop rain. Despite being a water spirit, even she felt the need to take shelter by the third day. The villagers were more than happy to offer shelter and try to comfort the spirit. But even now she was distraught over having left the spring. She thought that the dirty waters were her punishment for abandoning her post.  

“Why is this your job?” Q asked as he inspected the water sample. “Who assigned you to this font?”

She thought for a moment. “I do not know,” she said softly. “I've been guardian this spring for as long as I can remember.” She looked at Q worryingly. “Is it bad that I cannot remember?”

“No, of course not... sorry, I don't think I caught your name, my lady.”

“I am called Tiffany, sir.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance Lady Tiffany, I am Q.” He gave a little bow from his spot of the grass. She smiled at the awkward man in front of her. “It is nothing to worry about if you do not remember your origins. I’ve very few memories of my own mother and I don’t even know her name.”

“I could ask around for you,” she offered.

Q looked up from rummaging in his pack. “You would do that for me?”

“I don’t have much contact with the other realm, but I’d be happy to ask. You have been kind enough to try to help me and you’ve made me smile for the first time since this curse. I‘d be happy to offer what I can in return.”

“That is exceedingly kind of you, Lady Tiffany.”

 

A little more friendly chatter, Q excused himself to return to his lab to do more research now that he had a sample of the water. On their way back, Bond took a slight detour over the mountains at Q’s request. When they arrived back at the tower, the warlock set to work in his lab. Because of course it wasn’t a curse; it was just natural pollution. The unnaturally long rains further North had caused mudslides that likely seeped into underground rivers. This then dirtied the waters of the fountain. Within another week it would resolve itself, but Q knew he could fix it easily with science. Honestly, so many problems could be solved if more people had a basic understanding of science. He could only shake his head and continue stirring. 

 

It wasn’t until three hours after sunset that Bond and Q landed again near the fountain in a soft rustling of leaves from the dragon’s wings. He found Tiffany laying on the low wall, watching the stars wheeling above. 

“Hello again, Q.” She spoke softly, as if trying not to shatter the stillness of the night.

“Hello, Lady Tiffany.” He sat down next to her. “I think I have a solution to your problem.”

Suddenly the stars were less interesting than the man seated beside her. “You have found a way to break my curse?”

“I believe I have developed a cursebreaker for you,” he amended.

“What do you need from me?”

“Only your permission to swim in your waters and install this.” He showed her the small machine he had created. It was designed to detect the pH levels and cleanliness of the water and release a solution to restore the system to its natural conditions.

“It doesn’t look like any cursebreaker I have seen before,” she observed as she inspected it skeptically.

“That’s because it is my own design.” He gently took back the glass box. “Do I have your permission?”

“Yes, of course,” she said. “How will you swim down so deep? Most humans seem unable to breathe underwater.”

“Ah, but I can shape shift.” Q grinned and set down his machine before transforming himself into a small octopus. He was mostly black with small splotches of green. He waved a tentacle and Tiffany giggled. He picked up the glass, holding it tight with his new suction cups (these were really useful!) and started toward the water.

“Safe travels my little warlock,” he heard the guardian say before he submerged. 

Once underwater, it was so much easier to move. He was surprised he had managed to crawl over to the water while still holding his invention; the animals made it look way easier than it was. But now he was able to make his way through the underground tunnel carved out by the water over eons. When he reached the part where the tunnel became a large underground lake, he stopped. With a bit of magic, he secured his contraption to the tunnel wall and turned it on. Through the vibrations in the water, he could feel the gears spinning  and preparing to dispense the chemicals. Sure enough, he was now able to see the solution seep out into the water and begin replicating. 

It was almost like magic (but it wasn’t, it was science) how fast the water cleared up. Even in the dark of night, nearly a league underground, the change in the water quality was easy to see. Granted, that was partially due to his octopus eyes, he reflected as he swam to the surface. 

Q climbed out of the fountain and collapsed, exhausted, on the grass, his wizard’s cloak damp as an unfortunate side effect of transformation. He always forgot to take his robes off before transforming. 

After taking a few deep breaths, he opened his eyes again and saw the guardian standing over him, hand outstretched. He accepted her hand and pulled himself up.

“Thank you, Q.” He returned her smile. “The waters haven’t been this clean in decades. You are truly a powerful wizard if you can reverse the curse so quickly.”

Q blushed slightly, thankful it was too dark to tell. “It was nothing. I have seen something like it before.”

“Nonetheless, I have incredibly grateful.” They stood in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the stillness of the night. The crickets had mostly retired for the night, a few owls could be heard calling to each other, and if Q strained his ears he could pick up Bond’s heavy breathing. “You must be tired after that transforming.” Q nodded. He was quite fatigued. Lady Tiffany patted his shoulder. “Then I shan’t keep you any longer. Thank you again for your assistance. I will remember to ask about your mother when I next have contact with the other world.”

“Thank you, my lady. The honor was all mine.”

“Do come back and visit, Q," she requested as he walked back to the forest.

“I shall!”

 

Q and his wet cloak walked into the forest clearing and Bond opened one large eyelid. “Are you finished?” his low voice asked. 

“Yes.” Q shifted his weight. “Can you...?” he trailed off and lifted his cloak up in front of him so that the dragon could see it dripping. 

“You forgot again?” 

“It’s late, I’m tired, I was bound to forget something,” he groused. “Please?”

The dragon sighed, but lifted up his head. “Only because I am going to have to fly us back anyways. Get out of the way.” Q stepped out of the way and left the robes hanging in the air. Bond breathed his warm breath on the clothes while they spun to dry them off. As soon as he was done, Q summoned them over to him and threw it around him with a grin.

“So nice and warm!” Bond only rolls his eyes.

“Get on up,” he ordered. “I’m ready to go home and sleep.” Q patted the dragon’s flank when he was settled and together they launched off into the starry night.


End file.
